David
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Post by David on Dec 30, 2012 10:12:55 GMT -6
In the comics, I think that she killed her husband, because she is Amanda Blake Waller, but I could be wrong
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Post by Jack Malone on Dec 31, 2012 22:39:03 GMT -6
REVIEW -- 1.01 LegendsOkay, so I started Smallville a few months ago because I really wanted to start reading Watchtower. Everyone is always raving about how great Watchtower it is, and I have to agree after reading the first episode I am hooked. I've been a huge fan of Ms. Sullivan since day one of Smallville, and grew to love her even more. I like the direction you've taken her character, and this past storyline with Emil that's being uncovered bit by bit. I'm extremely excited to see that Oliver has made the trek over to Gotham City and I'm intrigued by Bruce's pre-Batman stage he's in. Honestly, I went into this episode thinking he was going to be kick ass Batman, ready, willing and able to join Watchtower but I was pleasantly surprised that he wasn't. I like this pre-Batman Wayne, and how he's still focused on the murder of his parents. I know that their deaths always stuck with him, but it wasn't always in a vengeance sort of way, so it was nice to see a less heroic side, and more of a vulnerable side of Wayne. My favorite scene bar-none was when Chloe "kidnapped" Helena and brought her to Watchtower. The dialogue in that scene was fantastic, and just when you thought it was getting serious you throw in Ollie calling her kid, then apologizing and getting out of the way. Made me laugh, for sure. I got uber excited when I read... Green Arrow ONLINE... The Huntress ONLINE... Watchtower is officially ONLINE. Chills, Jack, chills. Loved it. And the ending was definitely a shocker, I had this feeling that Black Mask was Emil, but I was even more shocked when he wasn't and Emil shot him. Great ending to a great first episode. Well, like I said I am hooked and cannot wait to read more!! These reviews have been such a nice surprise. Thanks, Darrin! Its kind of hard getting back in the headspace of Season One, and trying to give heaps detailed responses, but I appreciate you reading and reviewing- it means a lot, and I'll do the best to rant and rave on like a looney as I always do with reviews, haha! XD In terms of Bruce- having the first season be 12 episodes, I figured it wouldn't be too painful to have a Batman-less season, and dig into the vengeful, wanting "justice" side of Bruce's character, whilst throwing in the classic nods and "aah, its funny because he's gonna be Batman" things, and I think there were a few in this episode, if not, season. Plus, with Helena already as The Huntress, and Oliver as Green Arrow, I didn't want it to be too superhero-y with everyone butt kicking, and on team WT, so to speak. Into the third season now, and Bruce is only just now solidifying his role as "Batman". So its been quite a bit of a stretched journey- giving him room to grow in the show. The reception for Helena wasn't that strong with many people for the pilot, but I thought it was nice to have her and Chloe at heads, and she's slowly become one of my favourite characters to write for. I'm glad you enjoyed that scene! xD And I just HAD to do the whole "online" sequence. HAD TO. I love writing for Emil. I think, as a big bad, he matches Chloe's intellect, and because Chloe isn't Superman, and doesn't have, you know, Kryptonians to fight, and Doomsdays or Darkseids to deal with, its nice to have someone who can challenge her mentally. And he definitely does that this season. The minute I found out Emil was an off and on again villain in the comic books, I was like "I MUST HAVE HIM ON WATCHTOWER." Ugh. I'm just excited I have another reader. It means a lot that, despite WT coming into its third season, you've picked up the pilot and got on board and left a review. I really appreciate that, and it was a nice surprise. Thank you!
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Post by Jack Malone on Dec 31, 2012 22:56:32 GMT -6
REVIEW -- 1.02 PrototypeOkay, first off one of the storylines I hated in Smallville was the White Queen/ Red Queen one. I don't know why, it was just one of those things that made me cringe. Maybe it's my love for Pam Grier and to see her as a 'bad guy' just didn't work for me. Here's the kicker... You may have changed my mind about the whole thing, and that's just from the teaser and I'll tell you why. That's awesome! Thank you! I was a sucker for the Checkmate, White Queen/Red Queen storyline. I just didn't like how open ended it was left on Smallville in "Sacrifice" when Waller and Stuart are last seen being flame-throwered down by Zod and his heat vision, and then they're never really talked about again. But a lot of Season Nine episodes that dealt with Checkmate were probably my favourites for the season. There's a few episodes that deal with it, but Trinity does it reeeeeally well too, with Waller as a regular on that show and all. XD Bahaha. When I first decided to have Mia on the show, that's what she was going to be- a sidekick for Oliver, and he was going to help build her up to be a hero like the rest of them. But as you'll find out later throughout the season, those plans shifted quite dramatically. Anyway, because I hadn't introduced her in the pilot, I wanted to bring her on the show in a big way (even though she's barely in the episode, she was a big part of the plot.) Aw, thanks man. Hahaha "knocking Speedy the f-ck out", bahaha. I tried to go the Smallville route with Bruce, and while keeping him pretty close to the mythology, weaving new material and ideas into his back story. I thought having a past with Checkmate and a devotion to it because it was like a second chance at life for him, or whatever, was a nice idea to do, considering how angry and vengeful he is. Hahaha, mate, you're being waaaay too kind to me. I'm over the moon that you're enjoying the episode so much. I had more fun writing the pilot, but I think I enjoy, when I read episodes back, this episode more than the first too. This season, for Bruce, will be very frustrating. There's sweet moments with him, and badass moments, but a lot of "I wish I could slap some sense into him." And that's what was fun about writing him in this first season. Oliver has gone through similar stuff, so it seemed fitting to have him try and get to Bruce. A few characters try and get involved in that process, and help him out of the dark, and you might be surprised by who ultimately does. But that's pretty much his arc for this first season- getting out of that dark space, and hopefully, getting put on that road to becoming Batman. XD You love Chloe and Oliver?! Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah. *cue CSI Miami music* I don't know why that theme song, but still... <.< Hahaha. I love Chlollie! Love writing them. Loved watching them on TV. Anyway, thanks for these awesome reviews. Have been a really nice surprise for me. My responses are so lame, I need to go over Season One so I can make more sense. Hahaha.
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Post by Dan Wallace on May 13, 2013 16:13:20 GMT -6
Hey Jack, meant to do this the first time I started reading this but then I stopped, and forgot where I was, then I started rewatching Smallville the other day then you put up those spoilers the other day which all lead to me re-reading Watchtower from the beginning, and sooooo heres my thoughts on that.
(Oh yeah one thing to note, hadn't seen Smallville since the Series Finale and while I was reading this I for some reason kept picturing the "Arrow" version of Oliver lol)
Watchtower Season 1 Episode 1 "Legend" Thoughts / Review
- Neat effect with the green acid stuff fading us into and out of the flashbacks
- God I wish I remembered all the shit from Smallville, I honestly don't remember Emil being a bad guy, or Clark and Chloe not being friends when it ended
- Loved the first conversation with Bruce and Chloe, their interaction was very well written
- Helena!!
- I like that Oliver already programmed the computers and target some of the Mobs for Chloe to get back to her mission of cleaning up Gotham
- "an image of a masked vigilante, fleeing the alley" totally pictured like a ski-mask type thing till I put it together in my head lol
- Loved the conversation between Bruce and Alfred, definitely think you managed to capture their relationship well
- Enjoyed the scene with Chloe and Oliver taking on the Goons, I could picture it very clearly in my head and was trying to figure out what would happen next...Huntress never crossed my mind
- Huntress takes out most of the men, awesome shit
- Missed Chloe throwing the tracking device the first time, had to go back and re-read it when they mentioned it later on
- "The guy’s a pig, Mr. White" Well Chloe, someones judging a book by its cover
- Awesome flashback, thought it was awesome when "slow motion kicks in"
- Lex metion!
- Another very cool interaction between Chloe and Bruce
- The conversation between Huntress and Chloe seemed odd to me, don't know why, I think it may have been the constant "turn away, pulled back"
- Does Perry know about Watchtower? Wouldn't he have asked "Where are you taking the masked vigilante?"
- "Clark Kent", "He's busy with his own city", then she mentions she's from Metropolis. Did she basically just tell Huntress who Superman is?
- WOW! That was a very intense Helena flashback
- Ha! Oliver explaining the Alfred / Bruce relationship was pretty funny
- Shit! Falcone can't just stab people like that!
- Did I miss something? Does everyone know who the huntress is?
- Man Black Mask seems like a badass
- Each of them "coming online" was pretty sweet
- Loved everything that happened in the underground setting
- "Gotham for awhile"? Does that mean there's a chance of Watchtower going back to Metropolis in the future?
- WTF was that?!? Definitely wasn't expecting what happened to Black Mask
- "time to enter phase two"! I'm pumped!
In conclusion, Awesome pilot. Really enjoyed it, enjoyed the characters and how you managed to bring Chloe and Oliver to Gotham, definitly excited to continue reading.
P.s - Aside from the few question I mentioned I had another:
Why did you choose to go with Christian Bale and Micheal Caine instead of casting your own people like you did for Harvey and (know I'm jumping ahead of myself)Talia / Gordon? It's cool and everything just found it hard to picture Christian Bale doing most of the dialog because I've already seen his story as Batman in TDK Trilogy.
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Post by Jack Malone on May 14, 2013 7:27:53 GMT -6
Hey Jack, meant to do this the first time I started reading this but then I stopped, and forgot where I was, then I started rewatching Smallville the other day then you put up those spoilers the other day which all lead to me re-reading Watchtower from the beginning, and sooooo heres my thoughts on that. Aw thanks! I always get nervous when I find reviews for earlier episodes than the season I've been working on. Its like, "oh god, I wonder how different my writing is back then compared to now," "if I went back to read it, would I still think it was good enough to air", etc. Hahaha. Anyway, thanks for the review! I loved reading it. Well, this show was started during the ninth season of Smallville. There were rumors of Allison Mack leaving at the end of the season, like being wrapped up, so at the time- Chloe and Clark, particularly, weren't on very good terms. So I tried to keep that aspect of their relationship in Watchtower. Then, they made up in Season Ten, which was great, but not so great for keeping continuity. In a lot of ways but, it still works. It just means Chloe/Clark's friendship was never really back to what it used to be. As for Emil, in the comic books, he was this on-again-off-again villain against Superman, and I wanted to start the season with a bit of a shock factor for him, in terms of him now being a bad guy. On Smallville, he never was, so its all good. But yeah, this was written during S9 of Smallville, and as that show came to an end, I was able to solidify the continuity by the start of season two. Back then, Chloe and Oliver weren't even a couple yet on the show, so originally he's just this 'old friend' that resurfaces. But then they kept hinting at a possible relationship, and so I wanted to include that one the show- huge fan of Chlollie here. I think he was the perfect character to remind Chloe who she was, and what she's fighting for. Aw, well thank you! Hahaha. I love writing for Alfred. And that dynamic between him and Bruce. I can still remember writing that scene where they take on the "goons", and I just love the idea of Chloe kicking some serious ass. I'm glad that's the direction the writers took her in on Smallville, because it suits her so well, considering all she's overcome. Hahaha, Chloe was very paranoid in the opening of the series. Bruce definitely didn't demonstrate a very trustworthy persona for Chloe to latch onto, and I had a lot of fun with that distrust between them knowing where these two characters would end up, and how important they'd be in each others lives. Vocabulary did tend to run out in some places during the earlier scripts. Definitely something I look at going through the editing process. It can get distracting if the same forms of action keep repeating, written in the same way. I get that, haha. Not yet. One of his larger arcs in the first season is trying to uncover the identity of Watchtower, and its something I wish I played a little more on, but you know, how many times is that "you don't know my identity" thing dragged out with unimportant characters. That's one of the things I love about Arrow- with Felicity and Oliver- she was an asset to him if she knew the secret, rather than having another character be all "wha? huh? what's going on?" Perry was a stronger character as an asset, rather than someone not-in-the-know. Not really. Helena wouldn't really put one and two together, considering Chloe is a normal girl, fighting for a cause, she would just assume this was a friend who did the same, who she looked up to. I loved putting that moment in there, because it was like, despite whatever happened between Chloe/Clark in the three months this series takes place after Smallville, she still acknowledges that he was a huuuuge part of her life, and inspired her in a lot of ways. (I also think Chloe was a huuuuuge part in Clark's life, even though some fans refuse to acknowledge that... but I digress, haha). - WOW! That was a very intense Helena flashback Ugh! I loved writing that scene. Man, you're getting me all nostalgic about the first season. What is this?! Hahaha. Loved doing that scene too. I loved in Smallville when Chloe "officially" became online as Watchtower, and I wanted to kind of solidify the team for the first season in the pilot, and yeah. Man, I kinda wanna go back and reread all of season one now. Well, I have a five-season plan. There's definitely a chance, but primarily that line was just referring to the fact that there will only be five seasons, maxiumum, of the show, in which Chloe will be in Gotham. Whether she returns to Metropolis, or ends up staying in Gotham, or, you know, tragically dies, hahaha, well that's all up in the open. She's very focused on the mission, which is to clean Gotham up. Once she achieves that, those questions will start surfacing. Thanks again, Dan! I really appreciate the review! Very nostalgic thinking about the time I was writing all of this, and I'm just glad that something I wrote quite a while ago is still enjoyable and not complete garbage. Hahaha. So thanks! XD Ooh, I never took that into account. Well, to be honest, there wasn't much of a search for a new Bruce Wayne. I could just picture, when it came to Chloe Sullivan, that her Bruce Wayne would be Christian Bale. I don't know, I just saw them in all the scenes I was writing that I eventually decided to stick with it. As for Alfred, I did consider going a different route for him- you know how in some comics he's really tall, slender, not as old, etc- but, ultimately, again, I just heard his voice, pictured him when writing it. It probably lacks a bit of- well, a lot of- originality, but at least I can say it wasn't because I was too lazy to look for anyone else. I promise! Ahaha *backs away slowly* [/quote]
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Post by Dan Wallace on May 14, 2013 11:28:59 GMT -6
Anyway, thanks for the review! I loved reading it. No problem at all Jack, I plan on reviewing as many episodes as I possibly can, hopefully all of them. It all makes sense now, thanks for clarifying. I'm assuming that means I can look forward to many more conversations between the two? Awesome. Agreed. Vocabulary did tend to run out in some places during the earlier scripts. Definitely something I look at going through the editing process. It can get distracting if the same forms of action keep repeating, written in the same way. I get that, haha. It was a pretty great scene. Haha my bad. Awesome news. Less awesome news, but I understand that there's only so far people can take a story and still keep it fresh. Again, not a problem. It was very enjoyable. Starting episode 2 after I'm done with this post. Haha it's ok. I'm sure I'll get use to it as the Season goes on. Thanks for the respone Jack, and for clearing up some of my questions.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2013 6:54:06 GMT -6
I like so much Clhoe!
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Post by Paul Duke on Jun 23, 2013 3:27:34 GMT -6
I'm falling in love with this series. I have read up to episode five and will handle the rest later. I hope sometime soon I'll be posting some of my reviews. But so far, each episode rock and keeps on getting interesting.
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